Former Viðreisn deputy MP changes mind on EU accession talks

Sigríður María Egilsdóttir, a lawyer and former alternate MP for Viðreisn, says she was almost certain in the spring that she would vote to reopen Iceland’s accession negotiations with the European Union. After looking into the issue more closely, she has changed her mind and now plans to vote no, mbl.is reports.

Sigríður María discussed her change of position on the mbl.is programme Spursmál, where she was asked what had caused her views to shift so significantly in a short time.

She said she joined Viðreisn in 2016, when she was a 23 year old law student, and had always been internationally minded. She had considered international cooperation important for Iceland and had long held a very positive view of the European Union.

When it became clear that the EU issue would return to the agenda, she welcomed the opportunity to discuss Icelandic membership in detail and on its substance.

“When the issue was put on the agenda, I thought for sure that I would vote yes. I was almost completely convinced that I would vote yes,” she said.

She said that this was still her position in the spring, when she expected the debate in the following months to strengthen her support for membership.

Instead, she said, the debate developed differently from what she had expected. That led her to seek out information herself and study the issue more closely. She cited coverage on Spursmál and other mbl.is programmes in recent months as informative.

Her conclusions surprised her.

“As a result of my own research, I find that I am not as enthusiastic about the European Union as I thought I would be, and as I thought I was,” she said.

She said the decisive factor was comparing Iceland’s current system with the system she believes would apply if Iceland joined the European Union.

“When I compare the system we Icelanders live under today with the system we would live under if we were part of the European Union, it is not a change I want to undertake,” she said.

She therefore plans to vote no, despite having considered a yes vote almost certain only a few months ago.